Spencer Council Accepts Bids For Storm & Sanitary Sewer Projects

SPD Will Establish An Interview Board Prior To Hiring New Officer

by Michael Stanley

Staff Writer

According to Spencer Building Inspector Bob Bandy, crews working on the new CVS Pharmacy location on West Morgan Street are finishing exterior work and beginning interior painting. The store is anticipated to open sometime later this month. (Staff Photo) Bid packages came into the Spencer Town Council prior to Monday evening’s meeting for both the Disaster Recovery 2 grant-funded storm water sewer rehabilitation project and for the sanitary sewer extension project along West Franklin Street.

GRW Project Engineer Jessica Hartman was on hand Monday to take the bids back to the engineering firm for viewing after the council voted 3-0 to take them under advisement.

Hartman noted the low bid for the $814,345 grant funded storm sewer project came in at $781,830, but would exclude the portion of work along East Hillside Avenue.

For the sanitary sewer project, which was estimated at a cost of $40,000 to $50,0000, the low bid was $28,200.

In issues related to the public, the council approved an event request for the annual Spencer PRIDE Festival, set for Saturday, June 4 on the south side of the Owen County Courthouse square. The event will also mean the closure of Market Street from Main to Washington streets during the festival.

The council later heard from Owen County Clerk Jeff Brothers and Deputy Clerk In Charge Of Elections Linda Roy regarding 2011 municipal elections in the town of Spencer.

Roy provided the council with in-depth information related to the preceding municipal election in 2007. She noted the council would need to establish an election board and determine a site for voting precincts. She also explained the last election was held at the Spencer United Methodist Church’s Mark Mission building with both precincts utilizing five voting machines.

In building department news, Spencer Building Inspector Bob Bandy informed the council of the ongoing work at the new CVS Pharmacy location on West Morgan Street. Bandy said crews were busy painting the interior of the store and had plans to open sometime this month.

Hearing from Spencer Town Marshal Richard Foutch, the council agreed to establish an interview board prior to conducting interviews to fill the position left vacant by SPD Deputy Town Marshal Greg Melton, who will patrol his last day on February 16.

Foutch explained that he is still assembling the interview board, but noted councilman Dean Bruce and Owen County Prosecutor Don VanDerMoere being members of such a board.

Foutch also noted his intent to fill the grant-funded position held by Melton with longtime SPD Deputy Town Marshal Ed Westgate, who has plans on retiring likely after the remaining three and a half years of the COPS grant program has expired. The vacant position to be filled by the interview process would then not be a grant-funded position.

The SPD also recently received new bulletproof vests funded in large part by a $5,000 grant reimbursement.

Sewer Department Superintendent and Spencer Plan Commission representative Shelley Edwards later informed the board of the need for two new plan commission appointments. Edwards was also approved for he and assistant Jim Groh to attend a training seminar in Bloomington later this month at a cost of $220.

The council also accepted bids for a security system at the waste water treatment facility.

In old business, council president Jon Stantz made note of a recent meeting he and street department superintendent Larry Parrish had with the Indiana Department of Transportation in Seymour regarding the Safe Routes To Schools sidewalk grant. He said the process is moving along, however, construction is still likely a ways off.

Councilman Bruce also brought to the attention of the board and town attorney Richard Lorenz that at least one flood damaged home from the June 2008 flood is being rented and another is up for sale.

Bandy informed the board of the actual repairs to one of the homes and explained the other home had never been completed in the time frame provided by the building permit obtained by the property owner in 2008. Lorenz and Bandy both stressed that the public should know a building permit is limited to what is permitted on the permit and expires within the set and documented time frame.

The Spencer Town Council will meet again on Tuesday, February 22, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Spencer Municipal Building, located at 90 North West Street.